International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

The European Commission pays particular attention to the digital development of the economy and society. The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) has been an essential tool for measurement and monitoring since 2014. In 2021, the cardinal indicators of the DESI index were aligned with the 2030 Digital Compass targets, which have four key areas: digitally skilled population; secure and sustainable digital infrastructures; the digital transformation of businesses, and digitalisation of public services. In the present study, the authors examined the development of digital public services over the past five years, using σ-convergence to measure differences between the Member States and β-convergence to examine how countries could catch up. The individual indicators under the digital public service category have also been analysed to identify critical areas that need to be developed in the future for the digital public service to catch up with the leading Member States. The areas most needing improvement were user-centricity, transparency, and cyber security.

ICT is a very dynamic sector, developing at a rapid pace in the recent years. The development of technology enhances the ability of the operators to provide new and better services, at constant price reduction of the services. Nevertheless, the total volume of the electronic communications market in 2014 constituted 3.1% of the total GDP (Gross domestic product) of Bulgaria.

In the state there is a steady trend of increasing the share of the mobile services compared to the fixed services. Mobile voice services have a leading role in the development of the electronic communications market. With the development of broadband technology, although at a slower pace is increasing the penetration of the fixed broadband access. Services for data and / or internet access are on third place by importance in the telecommunications market.